Lanark pool lifeguard tried to photograph naked woman

A lifeguard at Lanark swimming pool has been convicted of holding a mobile camera phone under the door of a cubicle while a woman was drying herself.

Lanark Sheriff Court heard that the woman saw the phone with the lens upwards, wrapped a towel around herself, then opened the door to confront David Boag rising from a crouched position.

He ran off, going into a cleaning cupboard and “escaping” up emergency ladders to a plant room, then left the building and re-entered by another door, arriving out of breath at the office.

Boag, 26, from Larkhall, had denied a charge brought under the sexual offences act stating that he had operated equipment with the intention of enabling himself or another to observe the woman in a private act, while she was in a state of undress. No photo was found on the phone.

The offence happened in the changing village at Lanark Lifetyles complex in July and the trial has run over a number of days.

During it, the court heard of the woman’s distress: a woman in another cubicle heard her exclaim “Oh, my God”; and, clad in a towel she spoke to a swimming instructor, who saw she was shaking.

CCTV and door card records showed Boag’s movements.

Giving evidence on Thursday and Friday Boag, a recreation assistant who lost his job afterwards, said he had been in the changing village trying to fix a tap in the ladies toilets. He claimed he had mopped up the water with paper towel, then had taken the towel back to the cupboard and had gone up the ladders to the plant room to check fire extinguishers.

He said he had no recollection of anything happening, and that he had been stunned at the allegation.

“Isn’t it the case that you were on the prowl for her that day,” he suggested to Boag. “You saw a window of opportunity during a period of quietness and you took a huge risk by placing the mobile phone under the door of the cubicle. You positioned that device so it could take a photo or a video of her in a state of undress.”